Church Mysteries
The Sacraments of the Orthodox Church, like the Church Herself,
can be said to possess a double character, for they are at the
same time inward and outward, visible and invisible. They combine
in themselves both an outward visible sign with an inward spiritual
grace. For example, in the Holy Eucharist, we eat the Body and
Blood of Christ, although visibly they appear to be bread and
wine. Likewise, in Holy Baptism there is an outward washing with
water, but simultaneously an inward cleansing of sins. Thus,
we often speak of the Sacraments as being mysteries, for, in
the sense outlined above, what we see is not what we believe.
In most of the Sacraments, the Holy Church takes things that are
material, e.g., bread, wine, water, and oil, and make them vehicles
of the Holy Spirit, in imitation of our Lord's Incarnation, when,
as the Second Person of the Trinity, He took material flesh and
made it a vehicle of the Holy Spirit. We also note here another
characteristic of the Sacraments, in that they are personal. That
is, the grace of God is given to every Christian individually.
Therefore, in most of the Sacraments, the Priest pronounces the
Christian name of each person as the Sacrament is administered.
Thus, for example, at the Holy Eucharist, when giving Holy Communion,
the Priest says, the Servant (or Handmaid) of God [Name] partakes....
Customarily, in the Orthodox Church we speak of Seven Sacraments,
although we must note that this was not fixed until about the 17th
Century. The Fathers themselves disagreed as to the actual number
some said two, some six, some ten, and there were even those who
said seven, but differed among themselves as to what constituted
that seven. Many other sacramental acts, such as the Blessing of
Waters at Theophany, the Monastic Tonsure, the Burial Service,
and the Blessing of Any Object, for example, possess the same criteria
as the earlier definition of sacrament. In any case, the number
seven has no absolute dogmatic significance in our Orthodox theology,
but is used only for teaching convenience.
The Sacraments, as they are traditionally numbered, are:1. Holy Baptism
2. Holy Chrismation
3. The Holy Eucharist
4. Repentance (Penance, Confession)
5. Holy Orders
6. Holy Matrimony
7. The Anointing of the Sick

Holy
Baptism

First place among the Sacraments of the Orthodox Church
is occupied by Holy Baptism, by which a man, who has come
to believe in Christ, by being immersed three times in water
in the Name of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit),
is cleansed through Divine Grace of all sins (Original Sin
and personal sins) and is reborn into a new holy, and spiritual
life. This Baptism serves as the door through which man enters
into the House of Eternal Wisdom the Church for, without
it, a man cannot be united completely with the Savior, become
a member of His Church, receive the other Sacraments, and
be the heir to Eternal Life. As the Lord Himself said, in
His discourse with Nicodemus, Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter
the Kingdom of God (John 3:5)
This Sacrament of Holy Baptism, however, is not the same
as the baptism performed by St. John the Baptist, for although
this baptism of John was from heaven (Mark 11:30), it was
only a prototype of Christ's Baptism: / baptize you with
water; but He Who is mightier than I is coming...; He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Luke 3:16).
The baptism of John prepared a man for the reception of the
Messiah and His Kingdom (Matt. 3:1-2; Luke 1:16; 3:3). John's
baptism was, in effect, a baptism of repentance (Mark 1:4;
Acts 19:4) and not in the Name of the Holy Trinity. Therefore
those baptized by him were not reborn through the grace of
the Holy Spirit and had to be rebaptized later (Acts 19:35).
The Sacrament of Holy Baptism was instituted by Our Lord
after His resurrection, when He appeared to His disciples
and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given
to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded
you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age
(Matt. 28:18-20). The necessity of this baptism was further
stressed by the Savior when He said to them, He who believes
and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe
will be condemned (Mark 16:16).
On the day of Holy Pentecost, the Holy Apostles were themselves
baptized by the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire
and began to administer the Sacrament of Baptism themselves
to all who believed in Christ, wanted to repent and to change
their life in accordance with His teaching. And Peter said
to [the people], 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you
in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit'. So those
who received his word were baptized, and there were added
that day about three thousand souls (Acts 2:38,41).
According to the Holy Apostle Paul, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17) and thus the regeneration
of man's personality begins with the Sacrament of Baptism.
As Scripture says, as many of you as were baptized into Christ
have put on Christ (Gal. 3:27) and these words show that
in Baptism the believer is united with Christ, a member of
Christ's Church and through the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist
becomes a partaker of the Divine Nature in spirit and body.
In Baptism a new element a supernatural one which remains
hidden and acts secretly is poured in and the newly-illumined
receives a new name. Through this essential change in his
human nature, he turns into a new creature.
This essential change in man's nature takes place through
the free and moral participation of man himself and only
on this condition is sin abolished in man in the Sacrament
of Baptism. The dominion of sin over the power of the soul
loses its strength in Baptism: It is Christ Who now dominates.
But the element of sin still remains before the conscience
as a seductive principle. That is why it is necessary for
man to perfect himself morally even after Baptism; there
is still the possibility of his fall. In Baptism man is given
the power to struggle with sin and he faces the task of translating
into life the Gifts of Grace of the Holy Spirit given to
him in this Sacrament.
The Savior commanded His disciples to teach the Faith and
to baptize all nations (Matt. 28:19), for as descendants
of Adam all are in need of rebirth. This rebirth is accomplished
only through Baptism, which is why all men seeking salvation,
regardless of sex, nationality, or any other condition, must
be baptized. Thus the Orthodox Church holds Baptism to be
as necessary for infants as for adults, since they, too,
are subject to Original Sin and without Baptism cannot be
absolved of this sin.
In the Old Testament, circumcision was the prototype of the
Sacrament of Baptism in the New Testament, by which the believer
enters into a new covenant with God (Col. 2:11-12). If circumcision
was performed in the Old Testament on all males, adult and
infant (being prescribed for infants on the 8th Day after
birth), so much the more, according to the grace of the new
covenant, the Sacrament of Baptism should be administered
to infants. Having become a member of the Church through
Baptism, infants can receive Holy Communion and from the
first days of their life on Earth, they can become vessels
of the Holy Spirit. Holy Scripture itself speaks of the baptism
of whole families by the Apostles (Acts 16:14-15; 30-39;
1 Cor. 1:16), and there is no reason to consider that there
were only adults in these families or to assume that when
adults were baptized, the children in these families were
not baptized. Christianity, above all, is a new life in Christ
Jesus, and this life, according to the belief of the Orthodox
Church, is given to all, and of course to children, for as
the Lord Himself said, Let the children come to Me, and do
not hinder them; for to such belongs the Kingdom of Heaven
(Matt. 19:14).
As St. Paul says, we are called upon to confess one Lord,
one Faith, one Baptism (Eph. 4:5). The Church teaches one
Baptism because rebirth through grace experienced by man
in this Sacrament is one and unrepeatable, just as one and
unrepeatable is our natural birth, our death and the Resurrection
of Christ. Baptism was, however, repeated, and still is,
in cases where the first Baptism was administered incorrectly
not in the Name of the Holy Trinity and not according to
the way instituted by Our Lord.
The Baptism of both adults and children takes place in the
presence of sponsors, who act as guarantors for the one being
baptized. Only one sponsor is actually necessary, although
there are usually two (or more). According to Church tradition,
the sponsor for a male is a male and for a female is a female.
The sponsor(s) are responsible for following after the spiritual
and religious upbringing of the child, for which reason it
is absolutely necessary for the sponsor in question to be
Orthodox.
In earlier times, Baptism was done, on occasion, on the 8th
Day after birth and (in Russian practice, at least) the child
was given the name of that Saint whose feast was on the 8th
Day, for it was usually the day of spiritual, not physical,
birth that was celebrated. In modern practice, the Baptism
is usually administered on or after the 40th Day after birth,
the day of Churching, although we do note that in ancient
times the Baptism and the Churching were administered separately.
The custom of Churching is connected with Old Testament rites
and, in particular, with the life of Christ when, on the
40th Day, He was brought by His parents to the Temple, fulfilling
the terms of the Jewish Law.
The Sacrament of Holy Baptism is preceded by a preparatory
rite which, in Antiquity, was not a part of the Sacrament
itself. This preparatory rite consists of:
1. The Catechumenate, which takes place through the Priest's
breathing on the one to be baptized, accompanied by the Sign
of the Cross and the laying-on of hands upon his head, as
well as a prayer to expel from him the ancient deception
and that he be united to the flock of the Church.
2. The Exorcism, which consists of four prayers, commanding
the Devil and the powers of darkness to depart from the one
to be baptized, as well as entreating that a Guardian Angel
be given to aid him.
3. The Renunciation of the Devil, in which the catechumen,
along with his sponsor(s) turns to the west, which personifies
the region where in the powers of darkness abide, and renounces
Satan and all his works, breathing and spitting on him as
a sign of this renunciation. The catechumen then turns back
to the east (which symbolizes the region wherein Light resides)
and declares himself ready to unite himself to Christ.
4. The Adherence to Christ, in which the catechumen, three
times, declares that he unites himself to Christ.
5. The Recitation of the Symbol of Faith, wherein the catechumen
bears witness to his readiness to unite himself to Christ,
after which he adores the Holy Trinity Father, Son and Holy
Spirit in confessing the essence of the Faith.
This preparatory part leads to the Sacrament of Holy Baptism
itself, which begins with the same exclamation by the Priest
as at the Divine Liturgy: Blessed is the Kingdom of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit... after which follows:
1. The Great Litany and
2. The Sanctification of the Water, which is an obligatory
rite. [The practice of using, for brevity, water blessed
on Theophany is strictly forbidden.] After the petitions
for the Sanctification of the Water, the Priest signs the
water thrice, immersing his hand in it, making the Sign of
the Cross, breathing on it and anointing it with oil.
3. The Unction With Oil. The Priest now anoints, according
to ancient custom, the body of him to be baptized with the
Oil of Gladness, after which there takes place
4. The Triple Immersion in Water. According to the meaning
of the ancient practice, absolutely there is required immersion
in water and not sprinkling (or even pouring). Immersion
in water signifies dying to sin and coming up out of the
water signifies a resurrection for a new life in Christ,
something that the Baptismal Epistle reading speaks of clearly.
The obligatory formula in so doing is the recitation of the
Name of the Holy Trinity: In the Name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, just as was commanded
the Apostles by the Lord Jesus Christ.
5. Psalm 31 is read after the Immersion in Water.
6. The Vesting. The newly-illumined one is now vested in
white garments and a cross is given to him.
Holy Baptism is the only Sacrament which, in extreme cases,
a layman can also perform (both a man or a woman). The only
requirements are that the one baptizing must be an Orthodox
Christian and the Baptism must be done by immersion, if possible,
according to the following formula: The servant (or handmaid)
of God [Name] is baptized in the Name of the Father, Amen,
of the Son, Amen, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. If the one
being baptized in such a case were dying and later recovered,
the Sacrament must be supplemented according the Church Order,
i.e., the Priest must read the corresponding prayers of the
Sacrament and administer the Sacrament of Holy Chrismation.

Holy
Chrismation

In the Sacrament of Baptism man is called out of spiritual
darkness into the light of Christ and is initiated into the
economy of salvation by the Son of God. This initiation is
effected, however, in the Sacrament of Chrismation. Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ,
the Apostle Peter preached to the people on Pentecost, and
you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
Since that time the Divine Gift of the Holy Spirit is bestowed
upon each person who rises from the baptismal font. And everything
the Holy Spirit touches receives the seal of an invaluable
treasure, a ray of eternal light, the reflection of Divine
action.
The Sacrament of Chrismation awakens in the soul that inner,
spiritual thirst which does not let one grow satisfied solely
with the earthly and material, but always summons us to the
Heavenly, to the eternal and the perfect. It makes the baptized
person the possessor of the Spirit bearing beauty and a partaker
of sanctity, of the Unwaning Light and Divine Life. It is
for this reason that in Chrismation the new member of the
Church not only receives the Spirit within, but is outwardly
encompassed by Him, being robed henceforth as if in special
spiritual garments.
The Prayer at Anointing with the Holy Chrism contains an
assertion that the one who has been graced to receive the
seal of the Gift of the Holy Spirit receives aid to remain
indomitable, unchanging, unharmed, untouched, unoppressed,
safe from the designs of the Evil One, to abide in the Faith
and to await the heavenly rewards of life and the eternal
promises of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Such a lofty
gift of the Holy Spirit, bestowed in Chrismation, obliges
the person being anointed to remember constantly the words
of St. Paul: Do you not know that you are God's temple and
that God's Spirit dwells in you (1 Cor. 3:16)?
The prayer to God for the bestowing of the Holy Spirit, which
precedes the anointing, and the anointing itself of certain
parts of the body crosswise with the Chrism, accompanied
by the words, The seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit, Amen,
have always comprised the basis for the Office of this Sacrament.
It concludes the grace-giving process of the new member's
joining the Church, making him an equal among the faithful
and rendering him worthy, henceforth, to partake of the Body
and Blood of Christ.
Originally the Apostles conferred the Holy Spirit on those
who gladly received the Word of the Gospel (Acts 2:41) and
were baptized through prayer and the laying-on of hands.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter and John were sent to
the Samaritans who had received the word of God and they
prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit....
Then they laid their hands on them and they received the
Holy Spirit (Acts 8:15, 17). The need to administer the Sacrament
of the spirit through the laying-on of hands required the
personal participation of the Apostles, but later they blessed
the Bishops and Presbyter whom they consecrated to conduct
the invocation of the Holy Spirit upon believers through
anointing them with the Holy Chrism, and permitted Bishops
alone to consecrate the Chrism. As St. Cyril of Jerusalem
says, Holy Chrism...is a gift of Christ and of the Holy Spirit,
which is validated by the presence of His Divinity.... And
when the body is anointed in a visible fashion, the soul
is consecrated with the Holy and Life-Giving Spirit.
The Chrism here used consists of olive oil, to which has
been added white grape wine and a number of aromatic substances
symbolizing the various grace-bestowing gifts of the Holy
Spirit conferred through Chrismation. The Holy Chrism, which
has been prepared at the beginning of Holy Week, is formally
consecrated, usually by the Primate of the Church, on Holy
Thursday and then distributed to the Bishops who, in turn,
distribute it, as needed, to the Priests, for use in the
Sacraments.
In the Office of the Sacrament of Chrismation, the anointing
is performed with the recitation of the words, The Seal of
the Gift of the Holy Spirit, during which the Priest anoints
crosswise with the Holy Chrism the forehead, eyes, nostrils,
mouth, ears, breast, hands and feet of the Newly-illumined.
After the anointing, the Priest then leads the Newly-illumined
and sponsor (s) three times around the font to the singing
of As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ. Alleluia! This circular procession is seen as a symbol
of joy.
Then follows the reading of the Epistle and Gospel which
(along with the preceding hymn) refer to Baptism, since,
from antiquity, the two Sacraments have been linked into
one rite. After this, the Chrism is washed off and the white
baptismal garments removed. [In ancient times this was customarily
done on the 8th Day after, i.e., St. Thomas Sunday.] The
hair is then cut in a crosswise manner The Tonsure as a sign
of humility and readiness for sacrificial service to the
Lord an initiation into the Army of Christ.

Holy
Communion

The
central place among the Sacraments of the Orthodox Church
is held by the Holy Eucharist the precious Body and Blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ. In modern times the Holy Eucharist
is celebrated in the Orthodox Church at the following
Liturgies:
1. The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom the usual Liturgy
of Sundays and Weekdays.
2. The Liturgy of St. Basil the Great celebrated on the
Sundays of Great Lent and certain Feast Days.
3. The Liturgy of St. James the Brother of the Lord celebrated
on October 23 (St. James' Day) in certain places only (e.g.,
Jerusalem).
4. The Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts celebrated on
Weekdays of Great Lent and Holy Week. (At this Liturgy
there is no
consecration of the Holy Gifts, but rather Communion is
given from the Gifts consecrated on the previous Sunday
hence Pre-sanctified.)
The Savior Himself said, I am the bread of life; he who
conies to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me
shall never
thirst....If any one eats of this bread he will live forever;
and the bread which I shall give for the life of 'the world
is My flesh (John 6:35,51). At the Last Supper, Jesus took
bread, and blessed, and broke it, and give it to the disciples
and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body'. And He took a cup,
and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, saying,
'Drink of it, all of you; for this is My blood of the new
covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness
of sins' (Matt. 26:26-28; cf. Mark 14:12-16; Luke 22:7-13;
1 Cor. 11:23-30).
This institution of the Eucharist by our Lord is the means
whereby we become united with Christ and with each other
as a church, for, as St. Paul says, the goal of every Christian
is to grow up in every way into Him Who is the head, into
Christ, from Whom the whole body, joined and knit together
by every joint with which it is sup plied...makes bodily
growth and up builds itself in love (Eph. 4:15-16). This
is so since Christ is the head of the Church, His body,
and is Himself its Savior (Eph. 5:23). We become part of
the
Mystical Body of Christ by our communion of the Holy Eucharist.
As St. Paul says: The cup of blessing which we bless, is
it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread
which we break, is it not a participation in the body of
Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are
one body, for we all partake of the one bread (1 Cor. 10:16-17).
Only by belonging to the Church, or in other words, being
in communion with the very essence of Christ through the
Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, can one attain salvation
unto eternal life, thus we can answer the question, Who
can be regarded as a member of the Church of Christ? by
saying,
All those who have been properly baptized in the Name of
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ as the true Son of God come in the flesh (1
John 4:2-3), and are united by the grace of the Sacraments
in particular the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist administered
by the Priesthood of Apostolic Succession.
The unity of all Christian believers in the Holy Eucharist
is strongly stressed by the Fathers of the Church. St.
Ignatius of Antioch, in his Letter to the Ephesians reminds
them that
all of you to the last, without exception, through God's
grace are united in common faith and in Jesus Christ...,
so obey the Bishop and the Presbyters in complete harmony,
breaking one bread, this remedy for immortality. Moreover,
the Eucharist is not only a testament to the internal and
external unity of the Church, but is also the means for
strengthening this unity. Therefore St. Ignatius stresses
more frequent
Communion: Try to gather more often for the Eucharist and
glorification of God. For if you gather together often,
the forces of Satan are overthrown, and his destructive
deeds
are wrecked by your single-hearted faith [To the Ephesians].
The union of believers with Christ in the Eucharist is
also stressed by St. Cyprian of Carthage who, speaking
of the
mixing of water and wine in the cup, gives an extended
meaning to this mixing: The people are designated by water,
the blood
of Christ by wine. Mixing water and wine in the cup shows
the people's union with Christ, the believers' union with
Him in Whom they believe. Water and wine after mixing in
the Lord's Cup are so inseparably and closely united that
they cannot be separated one from another. In just this
way nothing can separate from Christ the Church, that is,
the
people that make up the Church, firmly and unshakeably
abiding in faith and joined by eternal, indivisible love
[Letter
to Cacaelius].
This is reaffirmed in the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great
when, after the blessing of the Holy Gifts, we pray that
the Heavenly Father unite us all, as many as are partakers
in the one bread and one cup, one with another in communion
with the One Holy Spirit. Thus we can say that whereas
entrance into the Church begins with Holy Baptism, its
fulfillment
lies in the Holy Eucharist.
Orthodox Theology sees the Holy Eucharist as a sacrifice
and this is affirmed in the words of the Priest, when he
says, during the Eucharistic Canon, Thine own of Thine
own we offer unto Thee on behalf of all and for all. The
sacrifice
offered at the Eucharist is Christ Himself, but He Who
brings the sacrifice is also Christ. Christ is, at one
and the same
time, High Priest and Sacrifice. In the prayer before the
Great Entrance, the Priest prays: For Thou art the Offerer
and the Offered, the Receiver and the Received, O Christ
our God.... This Eucharist is offered to God the Holy Trinity,
and so if we ask the threefold question, What is offered?
By Whom is it offered? To Whom is it offered? we say in
answer, Christ. In addition, the sacrifice is offered on
behalf of
all and for all, for it is a sacrifice of redemption which
is brought for the living and the dead.
According to St. Nicholas Cabasilas, a medieval Orthodox
teacher, the Church's understanding of the Eucharist is,
as follows: In the first place, the sacrifice is not only
an enactment or a symbol, but a real sacrifice. In the
second, that which is sacrificed is not bread, but the
very Body
of Christ. In the third place, the Lamb of God was immolated
only once and for all times. The Eucharist sacrifice consists
not of the real or blood sacrifice of the Lamb, but in
the transformation of bread into the sacrificed Lamb [Commentary
on the Divine Liturgy, 32].
According to the Orthodox Church, then, the Eucharist is
not just a reminder of Christ's sacrifice or of its enactment,
but it is a real sacrifice. On the other hand, however,
it is not a new sacrifice, nor a repetition of the Sacrifice
of the Cross upon Golgotha. The events of Christ's Sacrifice
the Incarnation, the Institution of the Eucharist, the
Crucifixion,
Resurrection and Ascension into Heaven, are not repeated
during the Eucharist, yet they become a present reality.
As one Orthodox theologian has said, During the Liturgy
we are projected in time to that place where eternity and
time
intersect, and then we become the contemporaries of these
events that we are calling to mind [P. N. Evdokimov, L'Orthodoxie,
p. 241]. Thus the Eucharist and all the Holy Liturgy is,
in structure, a sacrificial service.
How all this takes place is a mystery. As Metropolitan
Philaret of Moscow wrote in his Longer Catechism, concerning
the changing
of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ,
this none can understand but God; but only this much is
signified, that the bread truly, really and substantially
becomes the
very true Body of the Lord, and the wine the very Blood
of the Lord. Furthermore, as St. John of Damascus states,
If
you enquire how this happens, it is enough for you to learn
that it is through the Holy Spirit.... We know nothing
more than this, that the Word of God is true, active and
omnipotent,
but in the manner of operation unsearchable [On the Orthodox
Faith, IV, 13).
Concerning the Communion itself, in the Orthodox Church
both laity and clergy always receive Communion of both
the Body
and Blood of Christ. The Communion is given to the laity
in a spoon containing a small piece of the Holy Bread together
with a portion of the wine, and it is received standing.
A strict fast is observed, usually from the night before,
and nothing can be eaten or drunk after waking in the morning
before Communion. As a theologian of the Church has well
put it, You know that those who invite the Emperor to their
house, first clean their home. So you, if you want to bring
god into your bodily home for the illumination of your
life, must first sanctify your body by fasting [Gennadius,
Hundred
Chapters].
After the final blessing of the Liturgy, the faithful come
up to kiss the Hand Cross held by the Priest and those
who have not communed receive a small piece of bread, called
the Antidoron, which, although blessed, was not consecrated,
having been taken from the same bread(s) from which the
Lamb
was taken in the Proskomedia. This bread is given out as
an expression of Christian fellowship and love (agape).

Holy
Matrimony

In the
theology of the Orthodox Church man is made in
the Image of the Most-holy Trinity, and, except in
certain special cases (such as monasticism, for example),
he
is
not intended
by God to live alone, but in a family situation. Just
as God blessed the first humans, Adam and Eve, to live
as
a family, to be fruitful and multiply, so too the Church
blesses
the union of a man and a woman. Marriage, however,
is not a state of nature, but is rather a state of grace,
and
married life is a special vocation (no less than the
special calling
of monasticism), requiring a gift or charism from the
Holy Spirit this gift being conferred in the Sacrament
of Holy
Matrimony.
That Holy Matrimony has divine sanction comes no less
from the words of the Lord Himself, Who says: Have
you not read
that He Who made them from the beginning made them
male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall
leave
his
father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the
two shall become one flesh' [Gen. 2:24]. So they are
no longer
two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together,
let not man put asunder (Matt. 19:5-6).
The Holy Apostle Paul sees this mystical union of husband
and wife as reflecting the mystical union of Christ
with His Church: Wives, be subject to your husbands,
as to
the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as
Christ
is the head of the Church, His body.... Husbands, love
your
wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself
up for her.... Even so husbands should love their wives
as their
own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For
no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and
cherishes
it,
as Christ does the Church, because we are members of
His
body.... This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying
that it refers to Christ and the Church... (Eph. 5:22-25,
28-30, 32).
The Sacrament of Holy Matrimony consists of two parts:
Betrothal and Crowning. The Betrothal is, in some way,
the civil act,
sanctified by the blessing of the Church. It sanctifies
the intention of two persons to enter into the martial
union
and reflects Old Testament customs, when on those who
had expressed their intentions to marry, rings were
placed. This exchange of rings in the Office of Betrothal
is
an
outward
token that the two partners join in marriage of their
own free will and consent, for without free consent
on both
sides there can be no Sacrament of Christian marriage.
The Office of Crowning also contains an Old Testament
element in the crowning itself, which reflects the
ancient practice
of placing crowns on the heads of the betrothed. This
is the outward and visible sign of the Sacrament, signifying
the special grace of the Holy Spirit received by the
couple.
These crowns are crowns of joy and martyrdom joy for
the new union and martyrdom since every true marriage
involves
immeasurable self-sacrifice on both sides.
In the Greek Churches, the crowns are usually made
of leaves and flowers, while in the Russian Church
they
are usually
made of silver or gold. Customarily in the Russian
Church the crowns are held over the couples' heads
by the best
man and maid of honor, but in many places (as in Romania,
for
example) they are actually worn by the bride and groom.
The Gospel for the day contains the account of the
Wedding in Cana in Galilee (John 2:1-11). The blessing,
given
by God to man in Paradise was renewed by Christ in
the New
Testament, when, at the beginning of His ministry,
He performed the
miracle of changing water into wine. Thus, at the end
of the Marriage Service the newly-married couple drink
from
the same cup of wine, which recalls this miracle of
Our Lord. The common cup here is also a symbol that
henceforth
they
will share a common life with one another.
Divorce and Remarriage.
The Holy Orthodox Church does, however, permit divorce
and remarriage, quoting as her authority the words
of the Savior:
For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce
your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And
I say to
you: Whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity,
and marries another, commits adultery (Matt. 19:8-9).
Here Our
Lord allows an exception to the indissolubility of
marriage, and so, too, the Church is willing to allow
an exception.
While in principle the church regards the marriage
bond as lifelong and indissoluble, and condemns the
breakdown
of
marriage as a sin and an evil, she still desires to
help the sinners and to allow them a second chance.
Thus,
when a marriage has ceased to be a reality, the Church
does
not insist on the preservation of a legal fiction.
Divorce, therefore,
is seen as an exceptional, but necessary concession
to human weakness. Yet, while helping men and women
to rise
again
after a fall, the Church does not view a second or
third union as being the same as the first and thus,
in the
ceremony for a second or third marriage, several joyful
ceremonies
are omitted and replaced by penitential prayers. Orthodox
Canon Law permits a second or third marriage, but more
than that is strictly forbidden.
When Weddings are Not to be Celebrated.
There are certain times during the year when the Sacrament
of Holy Matrimony may not be celebrated. These are:
1. On the Eves of Wednesdays and Fridays throughout
the year.
2. On the Eves of Sundays throughout the year.
3. On the Eves of the Twelve Great Feasts, patronal
feasts of the parish or monastery, and other great
feasts.
4. In all of the Fasts (Great Lent, Apostles' Fast,
Dormition Fast and Nativity Fast).
5. From the Nativity of Christ (Dec. 25) through the
Synaxis of the Baptist (Jan. 7).
6. During the course of Cheesefare Week (from Sunday
of Meatfare through the Sunday of Cheesefare).
7. During the course of Bright Week.
8. On the Day and the Eve of the Beheading of the Baptist
(Aug. 29) and the Elevation of the Cross (Sept. 14).

Holy
Orders

In the
Orthodox Church there are to be found three Major Orders-Bishop.
Priest and Deacon and two Minor
Orders
Subdeacon and Reader (although in ancient times
there were other
Minor Orders which have now fallen into disuse).
The Holy Apostles
appointed seven men (Church Tradition calls them
Deacons) to perform a special serving ministry (Acts
6:2-6)
and in his first Letter to the Corinthians, St.
Paul speaks
of various
ministries in the Church (1 Cor. 12:28). Likewise,
he addresses his Letter to the Philippians, To
all the saints
in Christ
Jesus who are at Philip pi, with the bishops and
deacons (Phil. 1:1). In his first Letter to Timothy,
the Holy
Apostle also speaks of the qualifications of Bishops
and Deacons
(1 Tim. 3:1-13), as well as in his Letter to Titus
(1.5-9).
Ordinations to the Major Orders always occur during
the course of the Divine Liturgy, whereas those
to the Minor
Orders
usually take place during the Hours preceding the
Liturgy. Only the Bishop has the power to ordain
(although in
cases of necessity an Archimandrite or Archpriest,
as representative
of the Bishop, may be granted permission to ordain
a Reader). Because of the collegial nature of the
episcopacy, a college
of Bishops (at least two or three) are necessary
to consecrate
another Bishop. And since any ordination requires
the consent of the whole people of God, at a particular
point in the
Service the assembled congregation proclaims Axios!
(He is worthy!), showing their assent.
The rite of consecration to the episcopacy is very
solemn and the Bishop is ordained in the Sanctuary,
in the midst
of the Congregation before the singing of the Trisagion
(Holy God]. Thus the reading of the Holy Gospel
is done already
with his blessing.
The Priest is ordained after the singing of the
Cherubic Hymn before the sanctification of the
Holy Gifts.
The rite of ordination to the Deaconate is less
solemn and takes
place before the singing of the Lord's Prayer,
when the sanctification
of the Holy Gifts has already taken place, since
the
Deacon only assists at the performance of the Sacraments
and does
not perform them. At the conclusion of the Liturgy
the Priest goes out to the people in order to read
the Prayer
Before
the Ambo and the Deacon to say the final litany,
these actions being the first external signs of
their ministry.
In all cases of ordination to the Major Orders,
there is a laying-on of hands on the head of the
one being
ordained
and the grace of the Holy Spirit is invoked. Like
ordination to the Major Orders, ordination to the
Minor Orders
also involves a laying-on of hands, but there is
no invocation
of the Holy Spirit in these ordinations.
Orthodox Priests and Deacons are divided into two
distinct groups the married (white or parochial)
clergy and
the monastic (or black) clergy. The monastic clergy
are by
nature unmarried,
but one seeking ordination to the ranks of the
white clergy may now choose to be celibate (unmarried)
or married, but
must make the choice prior to ordination since,
under
Orthodox Canon Law, one may not marry after ordination.
A celibate
Priest or Deacon may not later marry and a married
Priest or Deacon whose wife dies may not remarry.
Also, one
who has been divorced may not be permitted to be
ordained. Bishops are drawn exclusively from the
ranks of the
monastic clergy,
although a celibate or widower may be consecrated
Bishop after having taken monastic vows. In ancient
times
married men were permitted to become Bishops (such
was the case
of St. Peter himself), but such has not been the
case since
at least the 6th Century.
Ecclesiastical Titles Patriarch.
This is the title borne by the heads of certain
autocephalous (self-heading i.e., independent)
Churches. At the
present time the heads of the Churches of Constantinople,
Alexandria
(Pope and Patriarch), Antioch, Jerusalem, Russia,
Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania bear this title. The
heads of
the other Churches are entitled Archbishop (i.e.,
Greece, Albania, Cyprus) or Metropolitan (Russian
Orthodox
Church
Outside
of Russia (ROCOR), Poland, Czechoslovakia and the
Orthodox Church in America, OCA). The head of the
autocephalous
Church
of Georgia is entitled the Katholicos.
Metropolitan, Archbishop.
Originally a Metropolitan (from metropolis) was
the Bishop of the capital of a province, while
Archbishop
was a
more general title of honor given to Bishops of
special eminence
(e.g., Bishops of long tenure) the Church of Russia
still generally uses these titles in the original
way, but
the Greek Churches (except Jerusalem) give the
title Metropolitan
to every Diocesan Bishop and grant the title Archbishop
to those who formerly would have been styled Metropolitans.
Thus an Archbishop now ranks above a Metropolitan
in the Greek Churches, but in the Slavic Churches
the
rank of
Metropolitan
is pre-eminent.
Archimandrite.
Originally this title was given to a Monk supervising
several monasteries or who was the superior of
an especially important
monastery. Now it is usually given as a title of
honor for distinguished Priestmonks.
Abbot (Hegumen or Igumen).
Originally a Priestmonk who was the Superior of
a monastery was entitled Abbot (a practice strictly
adhered to
by the Greek Church), but in the Russian church,
this is
more
often a title of honor given to Priest-monks. In
the Russian Church,
an Igumen ranks below an Archimandrite.
Archpriest, Protopresbyter.
These are titles of honor given to non-monastic
Priests, and are generally equivalent to that of
Archimandrite.
Hieromonk.
A Hieromonk is a Monk who happens to be a Priest.
Hierodeacon.
A Hierodeacon is a monastic Deacon.
Archdeacon.
This is a title of honor given to monastic Deacons
usually those attached to a Bishop.
Protodeacon.
This is a title of honor given to non-monastic
Deacons usually those attached to cathedrals or
to Bishops.

Holy
Repentance

Holy
Repentance (Penance Confession).
The Sacrament of Repentance developed early in
the Church's history in the time of the persecutions
of the 3rd and
4th Centuries, when many people, giving in
to the threats of
the persecutors, apostasized and fell away
from the
Church. Apostasy was considered to be a very
serious sin; many
held the extreme position that such could not
be received back
into the Church in their lifetime, while others
held that those who had lapsed should be re-baptized
that
is, their
sins should be washed away by a second baptism.
Moderation, in the course of time, prevailed
and a penitential
discipline the Sacrament of Repentance developed,
taking on the
meaning of Second Baptism; for this reason
it was eventually numbered
among the Sacraments of the Church.
After the end of the persecutions, the Sacrament
of Repentance remained, so that in the event
of sins committed
after
Baptism, forgiveness could be obtained and
the sinner reconciled to
the Church. This Sacrament acts also as a cure
for the healing of a soul, since the Priest
also confers
spiritual
advice
to the Penitent.
Since all sin is not only against God, but
also against one's neighbor, confession and
the penitential
discipline
in the
early Church were a community affair and took
place publicly before the whole local Christian
community.
In time,
however, Confession has developed into a private
action between
the Priest and the Penitent, and the Priest
is forbidden to reveal
to any third party what he has learned in Confession.
In ancient times, before the beginning of Confession,
it was appointed to read an entire series of
Psalms from which
Psalm 51 has been preserved in the present
rite, being known as the Penitential Psalm.
Then the
Priest reads
certain prayers,
the first of which recalls King David who repented
before Nathan the Prophet when he had caused
the death of Uriah,
the husband of Bathsheba whom David loved.
After being rebuked by Nathan, David confessed,
I have
sinned against
the Lord!
Upon hearing David's repentance, Nathan proclaimed
God's forgiveness, The Lord also has put away
your sin; you
shall not die (2 Sam. 12:13).
After this, begins the second part of the Sacrament
the Confession itself before which the Priest
speaks of himself
as being
only a witness, Christ standing invisibly before
the Penitent. The Confession itself consists
of questions put by the
Priest to the Penitent regarding his sins,
his attitude towards
the Faith, fleshly temptations, thoughts and
words. Thoughts are considered to be the beginning
of
sin, according
to the words of the Savior, for in speaking
of adultery, for
example,
He says, I say to you, that every one who looks
at a woman lustfully has already committed
adultery with
her
in his
heart (Matt. 5:28). The Sacrament of Confession
here
aids in revealing these thoughts and the struggle
against them
that follows.
After the Confession, the Priest may, if he
deems necessary, impose a penance, but this
is not
an essential part
of the Sacrament and is often omitted. After
this, the Priest
lays
his Epitrachelion (stole) on the Penitent's
head and says the Prayer of Absolution, which
differs
in the
Russian and Greek practices. In the Greek practice,
the Priest
says:
Whatever you have said to my humble person,
and whatever you have failed to say, whether
through
ignorance
or forgetfulness,
whatever it may be, may God forgive you in
this world and the next.... Have no further
anxiety;
go in peace.
The
Slavonic formula of absolution, introduced
by Peter Moghila, Metropolitan
of Kiev and adopted by the Russian Church in
the 18th Century, is as follows: May Our Lord
and God,
Jesus
Christ, through
the grace and bounties of His love towards
mankind, forgive you, my Child [Name] all your
transgressions.
And I,
an unworthy Priest, through the power given
me by Him, forgive
and absolve
you from all yours sins.
In the ancient Church, not all Priests had
the right to hear Confessions; special Confessors,
often experienced
Monks,
were entrusted with this responsibility. From
the 16th Century, however, it was accepted
that
every
Priest
could be a Confessor
once he had reached a mature age. In many monasteries
an
experienced Monk who was not even a Priest
was often the Confessor (such is the practice
in
many places
on Mt. Athos),
but the Penitent was always sent to a Priest
for the Sacramental Absolution. In modern times
it
is also
the custom for a
baptized person to begin receiving this Sacrament
when he or she reaches
the age of moral discernment, usually around
the age of six or seven.
Repentance the Road to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Man is weak, and thus sins and falls often,
again and again falling into the same pits,
driving
the soul
to utter despair.
The urge here is to give in to one's sinful
nature and to cease resisting the powerful
forces of
sin. There
is, however,
an answer to this. A disciple came to a certain
Elder, one day, and said, Father, I have fallen!
The Elder
answered, Get up! Again and again he came to
the Elder and said,
I
have fallen! and the Elder invariably answered,
Get up! Until when must I continue getting
up? the disciple
asked,
and
the Elder answered, Until the day when you
give up your soul to God! Thus, every time
when we
feel that
we have
fallen,
the Sacrament of Repentance tells us to get
up.
When one wishes to partake of the Sacrament
of Repentance, it is good to consider the meaning
of sin and repentance,
for sin is what separates us from God. Sin
plunges
the soul into darkness and we often lose peace,
joy, and
the courage
to address ourselves to the Lord God. According
to St. John the Evangelist, If we say we have
no sin,
we deceive
ourselves,
and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8), for
every man sins and falls short before the glory
of God.
God, Who reads the heart of man, knows not
only our everyday affairs, but also our thoughts
and
intentions.
Everything
is open to Him. In response to sin, Our Lord
Jesus Christ says, Repent, for the Kingdom
of Heaven
is at hand (Matt.
3:2). Thus He expects from us true, heartfelt
faith and true, heartfelt repentance. But what
does repentance
mean and what
kind of repentance is agreeable to God and
serves for our salvation?
To repent means to be fully aware of our sins
and our iniquities and of their consequences
of all
that is
pernicious to
man, all that insults God and excludes us from
His love, of all
that creates discord in family life, in society,
and of all that disturbs the soul's peace and
tranquility. When
we become
aware of our sinful state, and consider ourselves
at
fault before God, then our heart sorrows and
is full of contrition.
This heartfelt contrition is, according to
St. Paul, that godly grief [which] produces
a repentance
that
leads to
salvation (2 Cor. 7:10), that is, true repentance.
Tears of contrition
are the only means of purifying the soul, so
that it may rise up, become cleansed, luminous,
joyful,
capable
of
good deeds and of attaining perfection.
St. John says that if we confess our sins,
[God] is faithful and just, and will forgive
our sins
and cleanse
us from
all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). It is not
easy, however, to
confess, not easy to mourn over one's iniquities;
for each of us has a sense of pride and, sometimes,
also
a coarse
and stony heart that interferes with the sincerity
of our repentance before God. Prayer, fasting,
and mutual
forgiveness,
however, soften our hardened hearts and dispose
our soul to true repentance. Then, in the Sacrament
of
Repentance
we can, without shame or fear, confess our
sins with faith to our Father Confessor, so
that nothing
vile
or unclean
should remain in us that could interfere with
our lifelong striving to attain with all the
Saints
to the longed-for
Kingdom of Heaven.
The following confession (originally printed
in the Athos Paper of 1907, and translated
from the
Russian)
is especially
appropriate for all of us to consider before
receiving the Sacrament:
A Lament for Sin.
St. Basil the Great says, Weep over your sin:
it is a spiritual ailment; it is death to your
immortal
soul;
it deserves
ceaseless, unending weeping and crying; let
all tears flow for it, and
sighing come forth without ceasing from the
depths of
your heart.
In profound humility I weep for all my sins,
voluntary and involuntary, conscious and unconscious,
covert
and overt,
great and little, committed by word and deed,
in thought and intention, day and night, at
every hour and minute
of my life.
I weep over my pride and my ambition, my self-love
and my boastfulness;
I weep over my fits of anger, irritation, excessive
shouting, swearing, quarreling and cursing;
I weep for having criticized, censured, gossiped,
slandered, and defamed, for my wrath, enmity,
hatred, envy, jealousy,
vengeance and rancor;
I weep over my indulgences in lust, impure
thoughts and evil inclinations; covetousness,
gluttony,
drunkenness, and sloth;
I weep for having talked idly, used foul language,
blasphemed, derided, joked, ridiculed, mocked,
enjoyed empty gaiety,
singing, dancing and every pleasure to excess;
I weep over my self-indulgence, cupidity, love
of money and miserliness, unmercifulness and
cruelty;
I weep over my laziness, indolence, negligence,
love of comfort, weakness, idleness, absent-mindedness,
irresponsibility, inattention, love of sleep,
for hours spent in idle pursuits,
and for my lack of concentration in prayer
and in
Church, for not observing fasts and not doing
charitable works.
I weep over my lack of faith, my doubting,
my perplexity, my coldness, my indifference,
my
weakness and unfeelingness
in what concerns the Holy Orthodox Faith, and
over all my foul, cunning and reviling thoughts;
I weep over my exaggerated sorrow and grief,
depression and despair, and over sins committed
willingly.
I weep, but what tears can I find for a worthy
and fitting way to weep for all the actions
of my ill-fated
life;
for my immeasurable and profound worthlessness?
How can I reveal
and expose in all its nakedness each one of
my sins, great and small, voluntary and involuntary,
conscious
and unconscious,
overt and covert, every hour and minute of
sin?
When and where shall I begin my penitential
lament that
will bear
fitting fruit? Perhaps soon I may have to face
the last hour of my life; my soul will be painfully
sundered
from
my sinful
and vile body; I shall have to stand before
terrible demons and radiant angels, who will
reveal and
torment me with
my sins; and I, in fear and trembling, will
be unprepared and
unable to give them an answer; the sight and
sound of wailing demons, their violent and
bold desire
to drag
me into the
bottomless pit of Hell will fill my soul with
confusion and terror. And then the angels of
God will lead
my poor soul
to stand before God's fearful seat of judgment.
How will I answer the Immortal King, or how
will I dare,
sinner
that I am, to look upon My Judge? Woe is me!
I have no good answer
to make, for I have spent all my life in indolence
and sin, all my hours and minutes in vain thoughts,
desires
and yearnings!
And how many times have I taken the Name of
God in vain!
How often, lightly and freely, at times even
boldly, insolently and shamelessly have I slandered
others
in anger; offended,
irritated, mocked them!
How often have I been proud and vainglorious
and boasted of good qualities that I do not
possess and of deeds
that I have not done!
How many times have I lied, deceived, been
cunning or flattered, or been insincere and
deceptive;
how often
have I been
angry, intolerant and mean!
How many times have I ridiculed the sins of
my brother, caused him grief overtly and covertly,
mocked or
gloated over his
misdeeds, his faults or his misfortunes; how
many times have I been hostile to him, in anger,
hatred
or envy!
How often have I laughed stupidly, mocked and
derided, spoke without weighing my words, ignorantly
and
senselessly, and
uttered a numberless quantity of cutting, poisonous,
insolent, frivolous, vulgar, coarse, brazen
words!
How often, affected by beauty, have I fed my
mind, my imagination and my heart with voluptuous
sensations,
and unnaturally
satisfied the lusts of the flesh in fantasy!
How often has my tongue uttered shameful, vulgar
and
blasphemous
things
about the desires of the flesh!
How often have I yearned for power and been
gluttonous, satiating myself on delicacies,
on tasty, varied
and diverse foods
and wines; because of intemperance and lack
of self-control how often have I been filled
past
the point of satiety,
lacked sobriety and been drunken, intemperate
in food and drink,
and broken the Holy Fasts!
How often, through selfishness, pride or false
modesty, have I refused help and attention
to those in need,
been uncharitable,
miserly, unsympathetic, mercenary and grasped
at attention!
How often have I entered the House of God without
fear and trembling, stood there in prayer,
frivolous and
absent-minded, and left it in the same spirit
and disposition! And in
prayer
at home I have been just as cold and indifferent,
praying little, lazily, and indolently, inattentively
and impiously,
and even completely omitting the appointed
prayers!
And in general, how slothful I have been, weakened
by indolence and inaction; how many hours of
each day have
I spent in
sleep, how often have I enjoyed voluptuous
thoughts in bed and defiled my flesh! How many
hours have
I spent
in empty
and futile pastimes and pleasures, in frivolous
talk and speech, jokes and laughter, games
and fun, and
how much
time have I wasted conclusively in chatter,
and gossip, in criticizing
others and reproaching them; how many hours
have I spent in time-wasting and emptiness!
What shall
I answer
to
the Lord God for every hour and every minute
of lost time?
In truth, I have wasted my entire life in laziness.
How many times have I lost heart and despaired
of my salvation and of God's mercy or through
stupid habit,
insensitivity,
ignorance, insolence, carelessness, and hardness
sinned deliberately, willingly, in my right
mind, in full
awareness, in all goodwill,
in both thought and intention, and in deed,
and in
this fashion trampled the Blood of God's covenant
and crucified
anew within
myself the Son of God and cursed Him!
O how terrible the punishment that I have drawn
upon myself!
How is it that my eyes are not streaming with
constant tears? ...If only my tears flowed
from the cradle
to the grave,
at every hour and every minute of my tortured
life! Who will now cool my head with water
and fill the
well of
my tears
and help me weep over my soul that I have cast
into perdition?
My God, my God! Why hast Thou forsaken me?
Be it unto me according to Thy will, O Lord!
If
Thou
wouldst grant
me
light, be Thou blessed; if Thou wouldst grant
me darkness, be Thou
equally blessed. If Thou wouldst destroy me
together with my lawlessness, glory to Thy
righteous judgment;
and if
Thou wouldst not destroy me together with my
lawlessness, glory
to Thy boundless mercy!

Holy
Unction

This
Sacrament is described in Holy Scripture by St. James the
Brother of the Lord: Is
any among
you sick?
Let him,
call for the elders of the Church, and
let them pray over him, anointing him with oil
in the
name of the
Lord; and
the prayer of faith will save the sick
man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he
has committed
sins,
he will
be forgiven (James 5:14-15). From the above
text, we can see that this Sacrament has
a twofold
purpose bodily
healing
and the forgiveness of sins. The two are
joined, for man is a unity of body and soul and there
can be no
sharp distinction
between bodily and spiritual sicknesses.
Of
course, the Church does not believe that
this anointing
is automatically
followed
by recovery of health, for God's will and
not man's prevails in all instances. Sometimes
the sick person
is healed
and recovers after receiving the Sacrament,
but in other cases
he does not recover, but the Sacrament,
nonetheless, gives him the spiritual strength to prepare
for death.
The Sacrament is formally performed by
seven Priests, reflecting an ancient practice
of
performing in
the course of seven
days, each day having its own prayers,
although, if due to necessity, it can be
performed
by three or even
one
Priest.
At each of the anointings the following
prayer is repeated: Holy Father, Physician
of souls
and bodies,
Who sent
Thine Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus
Christ Who healed every
illness and delivered from death, heal
Thy servant from the weakness that holds
his/her
body, of
either body
or soul,
and enliven him/her by the grace of Thy
Christ, by the prayers of the All-holy
Lady Theotokos
and all
the Saints.
Seven Epistle and Gospel readings are said
and seven anointings are performed. After
the seventh,
the
open Gospel Book
is placed over the head of the one receiving
the Sacrament, during which the senior
Priest reads
the Absolution
Prayer containing the following: I do not
lay my sinful hands
on
the head of him who comes...but Thy mighty
and powerful hand, which is in the Holy
Gospel. This
replaces
an ancient practice
of laying-on of hands.
We must note that this Sacrament is not
only for those on their deathbed, but for
anyone
who is
sick. It may
also be
performed over the healthy as well (as
is the custom on Holy Wednesday in many
places)
and
in Greece
it is often
performed
over the healthy before Holy Communion,
since the rite also contains elements of
repentance,
although
it should
be noted
that this does not replace the Sacrament
of Penance.

Excerpts
taken from "These Truths We Hold - The Holy
Orthodox Church: Her Life and Teachings". Compiled and
Edited by A Monk of St. Tikhon's Monastery. Copyright 1986
by the St. Tikhon's Seminary Press, South Canaan, Pennsylvania
18459.